In hit 1980s British sitcom “Yes Minister”, bureaucrat Humphrey Appleby did everything in his power to ensure that the wheels of the civil service turned slowly.
On Tuesday, the UK government announced that artificial intelligence technology would be rolled out to speed up the work of mandarins—and they are cheekily calling it Humphrey.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour administration said the AI tools would “make the civil service more efficient to turbocharge” his plans to change Britain.
A press release from the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology said Humphrey would improve public services and help reach £45 billion ($55 billion) in savings.
“We will use technology to bear down hard to the nonsensical approach the public sector takes to sharing information and working together to help the people it serves,” said science minister Peter Kyle.
One of the tools analyzes the thousands of responses the government receives to consultations. It then presents policy makers with the information.
The government said this work is currently carried out by consultants and analysts “who can take months to consolidate responses, before billing the taxpayer around £100,000 every time”.
Another will act as a transcription service for meetings, “producing customizable summaries in the formats that public servants need,” the release said.
Other tools will help civil servants “summarize policy” and “prepare briefings”, and provide officials with summaries of relevant laws.
Earlier this month, Starmer pledged to fire up Britain’s economy by making the country an “AI superpower”.
He said it would be used to boost efficiency in the public sector, from education and health care to detecting potholes.
© 2025 AFP
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UK aims to quicken civil service with AI ‘Humphrey’ (2025, January 21)
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